The altar’s pale seam widens beneath Ares, revealing descending steps cut into ancient stone. Above, Athena, Helios, and the militia captain, broad-shouldered with close-cropped brown hair, a weathered face, and a square jaw, remain at the council hall, guarding the entrance.
The black seal-stone rests beside the opening, Zukalina’s war sigil carved next to an older mark whose lines twist like roots around a broken crown.
A deep pulse travels upward through the conduit. Dust slips from the close chamber walls, and the pale fire along the altar flickers in answer.
Ares
The steps descend beneath the city.
The confined air grows colder as the stair reveals itself. Each step disappears into darkness, while the fissure behind Ares narrows to a silent black line.
Far below, stone grinds against stone. The older mark briefly glows, and a second pulse rises through the altar with enough force to tremble beneath his feet.
No ally follows into the buried passage. The chamber holds only Ares, the descending dark, and the conduit’s steady summons from beneath Corinth.
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose the buried conduit’s purpose
“Is Zukalina aware of this conduit?”
YES (Likely, rolled 40)
The older mark flares, and a hidden carving emerges along the altar’s edge: Zukalina’s war sigil, repeated beside offerings of blackened ash.
A narrow stone tablet slides from the altar and settles upright. Its carved record shows Zukalina standing before the conduit, her hand pressed to the broken crown.
Athena
She knew. This was not merely an invasion route. Zukalina came here before her army crossed the walls.
Above, Athena descends three steps, stopping short of the black fissure. Helios and the militia captain hold the hall entrance, weapons ready but silent.
Helios
Then her silence at the ash field was deliberate. She allowed the marks to spread because this place required them.
Athena
Zukalina may not command what sleeps below, but she opened the path knowingly.
The conduit pulses again, stronger now that its secret is exposed. Beneath Corinth, something answers the revealed sigil, while the ancient steps continue into darkness.